1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to machines or other apparatus for fabricating an electrical harness which comprises a plurality of wire conductors electrically connected to one or more electrical connectors.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In order to mass terminate a plurality of terminals to wire conductors, machines have been developed to partially preload the terminals into the terminal receiving cavities of a connector housing so that their wire engaging portions extend from the housing. Subsequently, a termination assembly of suitable configuration electrically connects or terminates the wire conductors to the wire engaging portions of the terminal. The partially loaded terminals are then inserted completely into their fully seated position into the connector housing.
An example of the above apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,497. This particular patent shows a termination station whereat one such connector is terminated.
Co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 579,731, owned by the Assignee of the present invention, discloses a mass termination type machine which fabricates double ended electrical harnesses. The electrical harness comprises a plurality of wire conductors having a connector electrically attached to both ends.
One type of terminal which can be used for mass termination is a crimpable insulation piercing type which is disclosed in the above-identified U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,497. Another type of terminal which leads itself to mass termination is one having a wire engaging portion that has an insulation displacement slot. One form of an insulation displacement slot is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,794. The problem with such a terminal design is that the insulation displacement slot is formed from free standing walls. When the wire conductor is being inserted into the insulation displacement slot, the free standing walls comprising the slot tend to move away from one another thereby lessening the reliability of the electrical connection between the conductor core and the terminal.
One means of supporting an insulation displacement type terminal during termination is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,124. The terminal is braced by walls formed in the connector housing. This requires a two piece housing design.
A common problem encountered in mass terminating a plurality of terminals is to properly align the wire conductors with the corresponding conductor engaging portions of the terminals. One machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,179 which attempts to solve this problem.